The new scoreboard at Nationwide Arena isn’t airborne yet, but it won’t be long until it’s flying high above center ice at the 12-year-old facility.

The scoreboard, part of a $5.7 million renovation project, was sitting in the middle of the arena floor Wednesday as workers installed a lower video ring to the hulking piece of electronic gadgetry. You can see what it looks like by clicking on the slide show.

Signs bearing the names of the Columbus Blue Jackets’ corporate sponsors also will be added before the 43,000-pound scoreboard is hoisted to its permanent spot at the top of the arena, a team spokeswoman told me. All the work, including other improvements to the arena’s video and sound systems, are scheduled to be completed by Sept. 15.

The scoreboard replaces the one that had been in place since Nationwide opened in 2000. The new four-sided model has the latest high-definition technology and features a primary screen that measures 387 square feet. That’s about two and a half times larger than the big screen on the old scoreboard, according to a Blue Jackets fact sheet.

As I reported in April, the scoreboard and other improvements are the first to be made by the arena’s new owner, the Franklin County Convention Facilities Authority. The project will eat up most of the $7 million the authority has budgeted for such work this year.

Bill Jennison, the authority’s executive director, told me back then the authority knew the scoreboard needed to be replaced in the near future when it was negotiating the arena purchase from Nationwide Insurance. The decision to do the work this year came after Columbus landed the 2013 National Hockey League All-Star Game.

Jennison and others with a stake in the arena hope that game actually gets played. It could be cancelled if the NHL and the league’s players union can’t reach an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement. The current one expires Sept. 15, and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has said owners will lock out the players if a new deal isn’t reached.